“I’d be lying if I said there hasn’t been a lot of heated moments that I’ve seen in my career” - Damian Lillard offers candid response to Draymond Green-Jordan Poole situation
The Draymond Green-Jordan Poole situation has garnered a lot of negative attention. In this regard, Damian Lillard offered to share a player's perspective on the matter.
The altercation between Warriors teammates Draymond Green and Jordan Poole took the basketball world by storm. Although the incident itself felt like a small ripple when the news first came out, the situation took a turn for the worse when the video of the event surfaced.
The initial damage caused to the Warriors was already considerable. However, the impact of the video surfacing could be far greater.
Given that the Dubs are facing a bit of an internal crisis at this point in time, Damian Lillard offered his own take on the matter.
Considering that Lillard has been in the league and around heated locker rooms, he had some interesting points to make. As per Sean Highkin, during an interview, the Portland Trail Blazers superstar said:
"When you spend as much time with your teammates as we do, you want it to be positive and you want it to be respectful. But I’d be lying if I said there hasn’t been a lot of heated moments that I’ve seen in my career.
"I’m sure it happens in every locker room. You never wish to see that. I think what happens behind closed doors should stay that way. So I thought the fact that video came out is wrong.”
While Lillard's take appeared to be negative, he switched things up to addressed the altercation itself. He said:
"As wrong as it was, I think if you’re a boxing fan, in boxing, they say you’ve got to protect yourself at all times.
"I think Draymond, who I know pretty well, probably walked away from that situation saying, ‘I probably shouldn’t have done that to my teammate.’ And Jordan Poole’s probably walking away thinking, ‘When I push somebody, I should know that something may come back.’
“That’s it. It’s an unfortunate situation.”
Damian Lillard on the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole altercation: https://t.co/aJmnQdjdt8
Lillard's take on the matter appears rather balanced. However, his main concern stems from the video surfacing on social media. With the Warriors investigating how TMZ got a hold of the tape, the Dubs will hope to see the team solve the problem soon.
Draymond Green steps away from the team
The fallout from the Draymond Green-Jordan Poole incident has been rather drastic. While a majority of the Golden State Warriors' players have mentioned that there has been no change during practice, the team is obviously on edge.
In light of his actions, Green decided to take a leave from the team for an undisclosed amount of time in order to reflect on his actions. Given that the decision was mutually agreed upon, Green will be away from the team for reasons of personal growth and to give his teammates space.
Considering the impact Draymond Green's actions have had on the team, Warriors center Kevon Looney mentioned that the 32-year old would have his work cut out for him. With the task of regaining the trust of his teammates in front of him, the Dubs will hope to see their key player return to a more positive place eventually.
“[Draymond's] got some work to do to get that trust back from us, but I think he’s willing to do it.” - Loon on Draymond https://t.co/vfv3R1pCJ2